Kingdom Keepers
by mari2
Summary: Sarah is kidnapped by someone with connections to Jareth's world. J/S Sorry this chapter took so long!!
1. Default Chapter

**DISCLAIMER:  I don't own anything connected to the Labyrinth and I don't get any money for this story.  Please don't sue me…**

Please be nice to me, ya'll, this is my first fanfic ever and it just might be terrible.  Please review!!!  Tell me if it's worth writing more, and if this is too long ( I think it might be for only 1 chapter.)  Positive and negative feedback wanted! Thanks  ~ mari

**Kingdom Keepers**

Sarah walked into the busy café juggling her burden of books along with a backpack and headphones.  No one even seemed to notice as she walked in—it was the norm at Laura's for college students to drag their studying out of their dorm room and head to this popular spot hoping that the combination of coffee, noise and bright lights would keep them awake and help them learn enough to pass.  There was even the hope of finding someone else that had certain notes from a certain history lecture during which a certain freshman had fallen asleep…

Sarah dumped her books onto the corner of the Formica counter that hugged the farthest two walls of the busy café and flopped down onto one of the high-legged chairs set across its length.  Then she swiveled around to search the crowds for Jack.  

Her friend may put on the act of being a slacker who had barely made it to his junior year, but Sarah knew he was smart enough to put forth that image while still doing incredibly well, especially in the things that interested him.  She had met him in Advanced History of Mythology and Early Religion, a class that her counselor had told her not to take as a freshman.  He had ended up being the one who had helped her through studying for a plethora of exams doing well enough to prove a point to that same counselor.  And to herself.  

Sarah had never been one to back down from a challenge.

Besides, she had ulterior motives in choosing that particular class.  The curriculum included studies of ancient religions and how so-called "magic" occurrences had helped shape their development and provide a seeming factual basis for religious claims.  Many of the phenomenons these religions worshipped weren't much more than things like lightening storms, solar flares and earthquakes.  Sarah had trouble admitting to herself that she was hoping for just a shred of something magical that her professor would say he couldn't refute or deny.  

When she was younger, she had dreamed that magic was possible.  She had been waiting for a white knight, or a friendly fairy to remove her from the everyday world where parent's stopped loving each other, other children made fun of quiet schoolmates, and stepmother's told their stepdaughters that nothing magical was real and dream worlds were silly places to live.  

And somehow her dreams had been enough for a magical world to open up to her, and when it did it was beyond anything Sarah could have imagined.  However, despite what she had endured, the friends she had made and the courage she had found in herself, her memories of that world were starting to dim.

All but one.

Sometimes, when she was the least ready for it, memories of the person who brought her into the magical world of the goblins and the labyrinth would surface and she would find her heart racing and feel like the world could crumble around her.  The power of time past would dull the excitement and the terror of the world of the Labyrinth when she was in class, or at Laura's or with her friends.  She controlled her own world when she was awake.  But, more and more often, Jareth controlled her dreams.

Sometimes the dreams were of being lost in the dark labyrinth.  Sometimes they were happy dreams of the friends she had found there.  And sometimes they were dreams of the goblin king, and she was dancing in his arms.

Those were the dreams that scared her the most, because she had convinced herself she shouldn't think of Jareth and his labyrinth.  She had always felt detached from the real world, but something deep inside her told her that if she gave in to her dreams about that magical world she would end up there again, or spend her whole life half-fearing and half-wishing she would.  Instead she tried to surround herself with the "real" world, which was why she was here at Laura's in the middle of a million conversations and lives just listening and daydreaming and trying to study.  

And waiting for Jack.  

Jack knew that Sarah had nightmares.  She had confided in him after she had fallen asleep during a lecture, exhausted from studying for a Chemistry test, and he had been the one to wake her up.  He saw the terror in her eyes before she could hide it, and ever since then he had been trying to protect her from it.  All she would tell him was that she had nightmares about something that had happened to her in the past.  He knew she was hiding something from him.  Sarah was grateful for the way he looked after her now, making sure she went out when she was thinking about school or Jareth too much, swapping notes for classes, giving her tips on professors he had had before her.  Sarah didn't know what she would do without Jack, or for that matter, her roommate, Clare.

Suddenly, a hand clamped down on her shoulder.  

Sarah started out of her thoughts and whirled around in her chair, knocking one of her books onto the floor.

"Dreaming again?"  Jack asked lightly.  He looked concerned, despite his joking tone.

"Just thinking about the exam and Professor Parks lecture."

Jack looked at her, and then shrugged, as if deciding to believe her.  He set down a sheaf of notes in his messy, masculine, but, as Sarah had found, readable handwriting, and reached down to pick up the book that had fallen.  

"Thanks, Jack.  I have got to stop falling asleep during lectures.  Parks is sure to notice someday and he'll probably start talking about my pitiful essays until I wake up or something.  Anyways, I don't think I can strand studying much longer, and these are all I have left to go over…"  Sarah trailed off, realizing that Jack wasn't listening.  "Jack?"

He was sitting in the chair next to her, looking intently through the book that had fallen on the floor.  Sarah studied him quietly, noting his careless good looks and commanding manner.  She loved Jack for the friend he was to her, but didn't feel it was fair to try to have a relationship with him while she still thought of Jareth so much no matter how hard she tried not to.  Then Sarah caught a glimpse of the books cover and had to keep herself from shouting at him.  

She quickly reached out and slid the book from his hands.  Shutting it tightly she tried to look careless as she tucked it out of sight beneath some papers.  

"I don't think anything in there is going to be on the test, Sare."  He said, giving her an odd look.  "It's fiction, for one thing.  Where did you even find it?  It's not a library book."

Fiction.  Sure.

Sarah didn't look at him as she answered.  "I thought it might have some information in it on something Professor Parks mentioned.  I was wrong."  How could she explain that the little red book had captured her attention days before when she had left home after visiting for the weekend and she had been carrying it in her backpack ever since?  

"Sarah, if you don't pass the exam with all this studying, you're not going to pass it.  Read over those notes, and come out with me tonight.  You'll do better if you stop worrying about everything.  Besides, I want to spend time with you alone, when you're not thinking about studying or your family or whatever the hell it is you daydream about all the damn time."  

"Jack, I can't."  Sarah answered shortly.

Jack's smile faded, and he stood up abruptly.  "Fine."

Sarah watched as he walked away.

************************************************************************

            The phone was ringing when Sarah pushed open the door of her dorm room.  There was no sign of Clare, though the clothes strewn across the room suggested she had gone out after changing her mind several times about what she should wear.  Sarah had decided to let the machine pick up, when she remember that Clare had broken it that morning when she reached out to turn off her alarm clock and knocked it to the floor.  She dumped her books on the bed, and grabbed in the direction of the blinking light that indicated the ringing phone, cursing herself for not turning on the light, but worried that whoever it was would hang up.

            "Hello?"  she finally managed into the phone, flopping onto the bed.  

            "Umm…Can I please talk to Sarah?" said a child's voice hesitantly.

            "It's me.  Who's this…Toby?  Toby, is that you?"

            "I learned how to use the phone."  Toby answered her proudly.  

            "Toby!  Is Daddy there with you?" 

            "Yup.  Daddy told the numbers and I pressed them and then I have to talk to the phone and I can talk to you.  I miss you, Sari!"  

            "I miss you, Toby.  What have you been up to?"

            "I played soccer today."

            "Really…"  Sarah listened then as four-year-old Toby chattered on about his first soccer practice (he kicked the ball), his new toy train (red, and big enough for him to ride) and the peanut butter and jelly sandwich (no crusts, too much jelly) he had eaten for lunch.  Sarah had grown to adore her little brother in the two years before she left for college.  If the Labyrinth was the darkest, most secret part of her life, Toby was the best thing to come out of it and she didn't have to hide the fact that the experience had made her love him when she hadn't thought she ever would.  After all, it wasn't his fault he had Karen for a mother any more than it was her fault that Dad had married her.

            "and Daddy says it's his turn to talk to you now and can I please stop talking for two seconds and let you say goodbye to me…can I call you again tomorrow I am taking good care of Lancelot and Merlin and…"

            Toby's voice was cut off and her father's voice could be heard over the line.

            "I'll tell Toby you told him goodnight and go to bed.  He only listens if we tell him that anyway.  You are doing a lovely job of raising him all the way up there at college."

            Sarah laughed.  She wasn't always on nearly as good terms with her father as with Toby, but Toby's chatter had made her forget her classes and Jack and put her in a good mood.  "What would you do without me?" she joked.  "How are you?"

            "I'm alright, but I really called for Toby.  He's really been missing you, not that I don't miss you too.  It was good for him to talk to you…Toby?"

            Sarah heard a scratching noise as her father's hand covered the mouthpiece of the phone, and strained to make out the muffled words being exchanged between father and son.

            "Dad?" she ventured, but the talking continued.  Finally, her father returned.

            "Sarah, Toby says he forgot to tell you something.  He gets two more minutes, and then we'll hang up.  So I'll say goodbye now."

            "Bye Dad."

            "Bye sweetie, we'll call again soon.  Here's Toby."

            "Sarah?  I forgetted to tell you, wanna guess what I saw?"

            "What, Toby?"

            "I saw a BIG bird."  Toby shouted the words, as if to convey just how big the bird really was."

            "Really?  Did you go to the zoo?"

            "No.  It came to see me.  It's gonna come see you too.  I told it where you live."

            "Is that so?"  Sarah said politely, trying not to make fun of his imaginary encounter.  "Does your friend have a name?"

            "Its name is Jareth and it's big and white and it has some gray feathers and…"

            Toby continued on, trying to make the most of his two minutes while Sarah listened wordlessly, her heart pounding.  Her dreams were finding a way to become real in her life, and, even worse, in Toby's.

            "Sarah?  Sarah?"  Sarah heard Toby's little voice as if it were far away.  "Daddy says I have to go now.  Love you, Sarah, 'night!"

            There was a rattling and a click when Toby finally managed to place the phone onto the receiver.

            Sarah turned off the phone and flung it in the general direction of the base.  It landed on the floor, uttering a loud crack as it hit the cheap wood floor.  The darkness that had seemed so friendly with Toby's voice piping at her from miles away, now seemed to be concealing something sinister.  

Sarah glanced through the ratty screen of the open window across the room as if something were about to crawl inside. Suddenly, she heard a mocking voice in her head. 

_To be frightened of shadows and open windows, Sarah!  If someone from our world wanted to reach you, mortal boundaries would not stop them._

_            Suddenly, the voice seemed very real.  It wasn't Sarah's own thoughts taunting her, but someone else.  Someone close.  Sarah quickly sat up and started, as if to run for the light switch, but the dark space between her bed and the door seemed to stretch on forever, stopping her._

            _Do you even know what it is you should be frightened of, sweet Sarah…_

_            The voice was closer, and suddenly, familiar.  Would she remember Jareth's voice after so long, even now when the Labyrinth felt so far away?  Somehow, it didn't seem like Jareth.  She __would know the voice that haunted her dreams, and this wasn't it.  _

Then, where there had been shadows, there was suddenly something, someone, standing there in the shadows in front of her.  A soft voice began to speak, a voice that sounded of excitement and anger, deadly, but calculatingly controlled.

"I tried to make it easy for you, Sarah.  I tried to be your friend.  You blocked me from doing this any other way.  You're important to my plans, to what has to happen in my world, the world of your Labyrinth.  I would tell you not to be afraid, but you're smart enough to realize you have every reason to be."  

Sarah tried to speak, to shout at the man standing before her, but she found she couldn't speak or move, as if her whole body were under his control.  All she could do was stare fearfully with tears coming to her eyes.  The man before her may be wearing clothes now more suited for her childhood fairy tales than a college café, but there was no mistaking her best friend, her protector, who she cared for, but could never quite love…

Jack muttered some words, and, moments later, disappeared from the small dorm room, Sarah's limp body in his 

arms.   

Review, Review, please!!  Don't you want to know what happens next, well, I refuse to post anymore before I know if ya'll think it's worth it.  Thank you!!!


	2. Kingdom Keepers

**DISCLAIMER:  I don't own the Labyrinth or anything having to do with it.  I created some characters to make my stories about it more interesting, but other than that it all belongs to Jim Henson and some other ppl.  Don't sue me :)**

Thanks for your reviews!  I was nervous about people reading my writing when there are so many great stories on the site, but it was probably kind of annoying for me to keep saying it.  Anyways, let me know if ya'll have any ideas or feedback.  I love reviews (well, not bad ones, but just cause I'm a wimp.) ~ mari

**Kingdom Keepers**

The walls of the throne room echoed with the voices of goblins debating, arguing and, Jareth thought, just plain being annoying.  He fleetingly considered sending them all off to the Bog of Eternal Stench, but decided that that tact was getting a little old.  Instead, he somewhat guiltily removed his mind from the fray and began to think of something else, someone else, instead.  

Sarah.

Even as he did, he cursed himself for his weakness.  Sarah.  Why couldn't he stop thinking about the girl?  

Not even really a girl anymore, he reminded himself. 

Granted, the goblin king was not likely to soon forget the girl that had traveled through his labyrinth as if it were a game.  However, Sarah had not been the first, nor the last, to brave that particular entrance to the labyrinth world.

In the times when people from Sarah's mortal world had more readily believed in the existence of the magic worlds, many had been brave enough to take on his challenge.  Some of them, like Sarah, were looking for something that he had taken, because they were too foolish to keep it for themselves.  Some were intent on seeking the goblin king, whether to hail him as their leader, or to slay him as a monster and tyrant.  Other mortals had seen no more than the labyrinths entrance, choosing to give up what it was they sought there for a life filled with nothing more than their own desires and the service of the goblin king.  Yes, there had been others like Sarah.

Yet no one else had torn his world apart like she had.  Sarah survived his labyrinth, her ease owing partly to the fact that his feelings for her had caused him to whisk away some of the most terrifying obstacles just before she reached them, and then… she refused him.  She left him, returning to her mortal world and leaving his life forever changed.

_You have no power over me._

The words haunted him because no one else had dared say them.  And because, from Sarah, those words held the power that was only possessed by the few people in her world who believed wholeheartedly in the magic of his.  Yes, Sarah had defeated him, and taken back the child he had stolen, but there were other reasons his thoughts were so often of her.  

She had bewitched him.

Journeying through his Labyrinth, Sarah had shown bravery and desperation, friendship and fear.  She had an intriguingly mortal sense of entitlement, and a surprisingly magical sense of her own power.  She was overly concerned with what was fair, but at the same time had risked herself for the friends she made along the way, such as that annoying little bridge-keeper and that bothersome dwarf.  Haggle?  Hogwart?  Not important…     

Just days before, he had no longer been able to resist seeing Sarah, convincing himself that she was still real.  He convinced himself that he wasn't checking up on her, at least not for any other reason than to see that she was safely in her world and away from his.  He had taken the form of the white owl, the one that best fit her world, and flown swiftly from one of the most secret entrances to the nondescript suburban house where he had so often watched the girl who loved the story of his labyrinth, years, months, days, before she had found it to be real.  

Instead of Sarah, however, he found the child, now a young boy, whose baby blue eyes had darkened to the shade of Sarah's own.  Retaining his owl form he had spoken to the boy, knowing that no one but Sarah would take his stories of "talking" to an owl seriously.  The boy had chattered on inanely for what seemed like days before telling him of Sarah's whereabouts.  However, halfway there a sense of deep foreboding had hit him, and he had turned back and returned to the labyrinth world.  If Sarah was having some sort of new run-in with a creature of magic, he didn't want to be a part of it.

Of course, ever since then, he had been worried about her whenever the goblin council had given him more than two seconds to think.  Who in all the magic worlds could have any business with Sarah that didn't have something to do with him?  

The jabbering of a nearby Goblin dragged him away from his thought.

"Your Highness…Jareth…Jareth, Sir…"

"What?"  he snapped.  Turning to face one of his head advisors, Amblyn.  

"Sir, there is a messenger here to see you, from King Brein's kingdom!"

"Send him in, Amblyn."

Jareth recognized the man who entered the room as one of Brien's most trusted message-keepers and stood up quickly; crossing the room to hear what he had to say.  The man bowed as Jareth reached him and then rose when Jareth acknowledged him.  

"I bring you news from Kingdom Brienlyn."  The man offered, and Jareth motioned for him to continue.  "Our king wishes me to inform you that there has been a breach to the mortal kingdom by someone from the outskirts, in one of the lands under your… jurisdiction."  The man hesitated, belying the fact that the more civilized rulers feared there was no true law in the outer lands where darker magics ruled themselves.  "Someone without permission, we believe…"

"I gave no one leave to use any of those entrances."  Jareth answered the man's unspoken question.  "No one has gone to the mortal world legitimately, other than myself."  

Jareth turned and summoned Amblyn to him.  "Send goblin armies to every entrance in this kingdom, even the outermost parts."

"But sir, even our armies fear…"  Amblyn trailed off at the look on Jareth's face.  "Well, then.  Yes, sir."

Amblyn scurried off, ringing his hands nervously.  

Jareth turned back to Brien's man.  "Tell your King that all the entrances to our world from the mortal world should be sealed off, in his kingdom and mine.  No one will come back from the mortal world without our knowing it…Brien has sent messengers to the other kingdoms?"

"Everyone will be notified, sir.  We don't want to cause any disturbances there, not after all these years.  There are so few now that even remember, or want to believe…" The man trailed off.  "Thank you, Your Highness."  

Jareth surveyed the room, seeing that his orders were being carried out, and turned to dismiss the messenger.  Just then, he felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach.  Hard.

There was a sudden shout from across the room, and another advisor, Satu, came hurrying towards him.  "Sir!  Oh!  Your Highness…the crystals show that someone has entered the borderlands from the mortal world…the armies have barely started out yet!"

The man continued to shout, as if Jared were a blithering idiot who couldn't tell the importance of his information.  But Jareth already knew.  Nothing could have made him feel like that so suddenly.  Nothing but that same girl, now a young woman, who had turned his world around just a few short years before.  

Sarah was back in the world of the Labyrinth.

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please review, and I promise to tell what jack is up to…  


	3. Kingdom Keepers 3

**DISCLAIMER:  Labyrinth, not mine.  Amblyn, Brien, Jack, etc… mine, but anyone is welcome to use them as long as they tell me.  **

Thanks again for the reviews, please keep writing them so I can tell if ya'll like the way the story is going.  ~ mari

**Kingdom Keepers**

            When Jack crossed through into the magic world, he wasn't sure whether to expect an army or an empty borderland plain to meet him.  As it was, no one but a runty, obviously drunk little goblin was within sight at the portal entrance, and the desolate land allowed Jack to see for miles.

            Still, he felt a sense of foreboding, and he felt that it would not be long before someone realized that he had crossed the magic portal.  No, he didn't have enough power yet to mask such actions.  If things went according to plan, he would soon.  

He glanced down at Sarah, lying limp in his arms.  She looked peaceful in her dreamless sleep, and it made him think of the first time he had seen her, when he had been getting familiar with the area around her college campus in his hawk form.  He had caught sight of her searching for a class, looking young and lost and been struck by her beauty and innocence.  It almost made him feel guilty about what he had planned for her.  

Almost.

Then a young man, seeing her map and her frustration, had come over to her and moments later, led her, smiling, in the right direction.  The opportunity had been one he couldn't miss, and he had taken over Jack's body, hoping that a cemented friendship would make it easier to get Sarah alone and disappear with her to the magic world.  It annoyed him that his plans had come to this, kidnapping her by magical force in her dorm room, but things had been taking too long.  Sarah was cautious, and wouldn't fall into any of the easy traps he set for her.

However, it was worth it, because having Sarah at his mercy gave him power over Jareth, and the Goblin King had ruled for too long with no one to oppose him.  It was time for someone more worthy to take control of the Labyrinth kingdom, someone who wouldn't be content to keep peace with the human kingdoms and would war with them in pursuit of a larger, stronger, greater kingdom.  

Jack shook his head as if to disengage himself from his thoughts, and took out a crystal.  Shimmering at its center was a castle, creating an ominous image over a far-off borderland plain.  The castle was his own, hidden by glamours deep in the most dangerous part of the borderlands.  He was already King there, he had been fostering the position for years since Jareth had banished him, and the dark creatures that were his subjects would be more than happy to help with any of his plans, as long as it meant they would soon be the most honored subjects of a much greater kingdom.  

He glanced again at Sarah's still form.  Perhaps, when Jareth was gone, he would make Sarah his queen.  For now she was just a pawn.  Although Jareth had obviously not pinpointed his gate of entrance, he had no doubt that he knew Sarah was back, though not by what means.  He would be searching for her, but he would not look for her at Caydliell.

"Take me to Caydliell."  He commanded the crystal.  Swirling dark, it obeyed.  When he appeared in the throne room, he was no longer a friendly college student with careless good looks and a crooked smile.  He looked the dark and dangerous king, and his advisors and various court members bowed at his entrance, awaiting instructions.  He motioned to a man standing nearby.  "You, then, take Sarah to her chambers.  Do not harm her, but make sure she is locked in and post goblin guards outside her door."

"Very well, Your Highness."  The man bowed and, taking Sarah in his arms, disappeared.

Jack turned, motioning to the head of his forces.  "Rilen, I will require a small force at my disposal to travel with me to the gates of the goblin city.  I doubt Jareth will have the foresight to harm us, but it doesn't hurt to keep up appearances."

************************************************************************

            Hoggle looked out from his lookout post nervously.  The area beyond the gates was still clear of everyone but a few goblin soldiers in the distance, but he had never had such an important duty before.  Jareth would be displeased if he failed now that he no longer held the menial task of watching the mortal entrance to the Labyrinth.  The little dwarf turned at the sound of a group of royal advisors walking hurriedly past arguing about troop movements, and then continued studying the land beyond the gate, including what he could see of the Labyrinth.

            _If anyone comes, sound the alarm.  Keep all the __Goblin__City__ from harm._

            He repeated his instructions, making them into a rhyme so he'd remember.  Then he noticed that a group of borderland soldiers stood where moments before there had been nothing.  He blinked in amazement, his eyes resting on their imposing leader, and widening in sudden recognition as his heart began to pound.  

            "Sir Braeden!"  he gasped.  "You were banished." he finished stupidly.

            "Then shouldn't you sound the alarm, dwarf?"  Braeden, known to Sarah as Jack, smiled wickedly at the terrified dwarf.  Hoggle blinked in surprise and then began to shout.  

"Jareth!  Jareth!  Borderland men at the gates!!!"

            Mere seconds later, Jareth stood outside the gate facing the small, motley group of goblins, humans, and borderland creatures with a look on his face so terrifying it had Hoggle shrinking backwards into his guard tower.  

            "You had better have a good damn reason for being at my gates, Braeden.  You will not find that my everlasting patience is in the mood to be tested right now."

            Braeden smiled.  "You will find patience for this, _Your Highness." He said mockingly.  _

            "Not bloody likely."

            "I begin to see why you were so taken with Sarah that you allowed her to make a mockery of our labyrinth."

            "No one less than Sarah would have been able to beat _my labyrinth.  What do you know of Sarah?"_

            "More than you'd think.  She is staying with me now, in fact."  Braeden had the satisfaction of watching Jareth's face, for just a fleeting moment register something beyond anger, belying something closer to fear and disbelief.  

            "What do you want from me, you little border trash, that you would use a mortal girl as your pawn?"

            "Nothing more or less than your kingdom and your power, Jareth.  Nothing less than what should be mine.  You call the Labyrinth your own, but it was _my father who built it.  It was my father who made this kingdom what it is."_

            "This kingdom was a dark place in your father's time, and I will die before I see it that way again."

            "Then Sarah will die.  I give you thirteen hours to make a less rash decision.  I know you both will appreciate the irony."  

            Jareth watched as Braeden and his men disappeared into the already darkening sky.  Only Braeden could have managed this, to make him choose between Sarah and the safety of his entire kingdom and perhaps the entire magical world.  Yes, Sarah would find irony if she knew of the time he had to decide between her life and his kingdom.  But she would also find irony in the fact that the cause of all his troubles could all be similarly connected to one person.

            He called for the head of the goblin armies.  It was time to tell the troops that the person they sought, the person who had breached the mortal gateway and kidnapped his mortal love, was Braeden.

            His brother.

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I hope you couldn't see that coming.  Is that too clichéd?  Oh well, I'm just writing it as I go along now so who knows if this all still makes sense.  Review, please… :)      


	4. Kingdom Keepers 4

**Disclaimer:  I don't own the labyrinth, but some of this story's characters are original to me.  The idea for the labyrinth, however, had nothing to do with me. **

**Kingdom Keepers**

            When Sarah woke up, she was cold.  She sighed.  Clare would often tease her in the morning when she complained about being cold, pointing to the covers that she had kicked to the end of the bed during the night.  Sarah would never dare tell her that it probably happened during one of her dreams about the labyrinth.  Sitting up groggily, Sarah reached down to her feet to pull up the covers.  

But she couldn't find them.

Sarah reached down again to pull up the covers.  Then she realized what she was doing.  She shook her head, tossing her long, dark hair into her face, trying to clear her mind.  She pushed her hair back angrily, and suddenly the memory of what had happened hit her like a ton of bricks.  

She jumped up, frantically searching the room for a way out, still feeling dizzy and disoriented.  

"Jack!  Anyone!  Let me out, dammit, someone!"

"Do shut up, Sarah."

Sarah whirled around to see a man standing in the corner of the room…a man who had not been there during her search.  He had dark hair and clothes that reminded her of Jareth's, only darker.  He had the look of someone who was used to being in charge and didn't like being crossed.  Sarah resolved to do exactly that if someone didn't explain things very soon.

"Where's Jack?" she demanded angrily.

"Why?"

"I have to murder him for this, is all.  Could you arrange that?"  She said, smiling grimly.

"I'd have been happy to, except I believe he's been dead for nearly three months now."

"What?"  Sarah just stared at him, angry that his words could cause her such confusion.  "I saw him.  He brought me here."  She said weakly, fearing that what the man said was nonetheless true.  

"For someone who beat my Labyrinth as a child, you really are dim Sarah.  I brought you here."

"Jareth?" Sarah's eyes flashed with anger.

"Thankfully not.  My name is Braeden.  You knew me as Jack, a pathetic little college boy who happened to be in the right place at the right time.  Or the wrong place, I suppose, from his point of view.  The use of his body was much appreciated.  Nasty side effects for the host, though." 

"What?" Sarah managed stupidly, barely whispering.

"It kills them, sometimes."  He looked thoughtful.  "Most times."

"A boy named Jack, a boy whose body you stole died because he happened to meet me?"  Sarah said, her voice shaking.

"And if that were important, I might continue talking about it, as it is, I have only come to warn you.  Caydliell is unassailable and inescapable.  For the short time that you will reside here, I warn you not to try to escape."

Sarah started, as if to make a nasty retort.  He interrupted her before she even got a chance to speak.

"There is no Labyrinth here, Sarah.  There are four walls, and one locked door.  No tricks.  No puzzles.  Just the fact that you are stuck here as long as you are useful, with nothing to do other than think about what I might do to you when you aren't anymore.  

Sarah tried again to speak, but Jack…Braeden…whoever, had already disappeared.  Se thought about screaming.  She thought about escaping.  She thought about a lot of things.  Toby.  

Jareth.

And across the borderlands, past the Labyrinth and the Goblin City, Jareth watched, in a powerful crystal, as Sarah sunk down onto the bed, and tried not to cry.

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            Jareth smashed a crystal against the wall in anger.  Only he could break the crystals, due to their powerful magic, and he was on his second today.  The search for Sarah was not going well.  By working with potent magics, he had managed to glimpse her through his crystal, confirming that she was in Braeden's castle, but the castle itself was hidden in the borderlands, beyond reach of even his most skillful armies.  

            If he was to make a truly effective tool to search for Sarah, he would need something of hers.  That last particular fit of anger had been due to the fact that, although she had haunted his dreams and waking hours for years, he had no tangible thing that she had ever touched.  Higgle has offered him some sort of plastic jewelry, but it was useless to him after spending so much time in the Labyrinth.  If he was to find her, he would need to waste part of the time he had left to travel to the mortal world and acquire something of hers.  

            So how was an owl going to inconspicuously enter the mortal world and enter a suburban house now, during broad daylight?  He could think of only one thing that might work.  With time flying past like sand in the wind, Jareth quickly disappeared, leaving in his place a beautiful, snowy-white owl, racing towards the world above.

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            Toby kicked the grass in frustration.  He had been standing out here in the field for a million hours (two minutes, ) and still, no one had passed him the ball.  He scratched at his knee pads, which were making him sweaty, and let his eyes wander across the field. 

The tiny black-and-white ball seemed a million miles away, and Toby sighed, now tracing his cleat in a tiny patch of dirt.  

"Toby."

A voice was calling him from the trees bordering the field.  Not to be cautious of kidnappers and other dangers, Toby checked to make sure his dad wasn't watching him and ducked off the field and into the trees.  As he approached the great white bird he found there, an annoyed team mate kicked the ball to a player who wasn't there.  

"Hi, Jareth!  I'm playing soccer today.  Yesterday my dad took me to see a basketball game, and I had macaroni and cheese for lunch, and my mom and dad had a fight about Sarah, and…"

"Toby," the bird said, as commandingly as he could for someone who was speaking with his mind, "if Sarah needed your help, would you do anything to help her."

"She's my _sister."  Toby said, rolling his eyes._

"Toby, I need something of Sarah's.  Something she cares about and that would mean something to her no matter what."

"I don't have anything with me but my water bottle."  Toby answered dejectedly.

"Toby, I need you to come with me now.  I promise no harm shall come to you, but without you, Sarah will be in trouble, and I won't be able to help her."

Being four years old (almost five), Toby was far from cautious.  Moments later, he was following the owl who called himself Jareth through the woods by his soccer field, entering the Labyrinth for what he didn't know would be the second time in his young life.

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Hope ya'll like the story.  I'm going to the beach for a week, where I share 1 computer with 21 people (big family) so I probably wont post again till after that.  However, if there are a lot of reviews when I get back, I'll want to write the next chapter faster.  Let me know if you want to read it! ~ mari   


	5. The Coming Battle

DISLAIMER: I don't own the Labyrinth. Don't sue me.  
  
Sorry this chapter took soooooo long!!! Kingdom Keepers  
  
"Are you a goblin?" "Yes." "A really real goblin?" "Yes." "What's your name? "Amblyn, young sir." "Are you really a goblin?" At Amblyn's defeated sigh, Jareth finally managed to draw himself away from his crystals and pay attention to the young boy who was questioning his advisor to the point of exhaustion. Toby didn't remember being here before; back when Sarah wished him to the Labyrinth. But he remembered the stories of goblins and kings that Sarah, ever the actress, had created for him over the years. He was young enough to appreciate a tangible cast of characters for those stories without fear, and to strike up an inquisitive conversation with everyone he saw. "Toby." Jareth called, "Catch.", and he threw the boy a musical crystal to amuse himself with. As Toby turned happily to the spinning orb, Amblyn escaped with a grateful look towards Jareth. Jareth turned back to his own crystal, with which he was now searching the borderlands for Sarah.  
  
Toby was treasured by Sarah, and his presence should override the powerful dark magic that ruled the outskirts of his kingdom where he felt certain Braeden was hidden, and obscured even Jareth's powerful crystals. He regretted the worry that might be encountered above ground due to Toby's disappearance. But when he found the boy away from home, he was too worried about the swiftly passing time to take him back to his house and search for something dear to Sarah. If Sarah could brave the Labyrinth for Toby, then Toby was enough. Suddenly, the crystal before him changed. Before it had shown Jareth only misty images of Sarah and Braeden, with nothing tangible enough for him to discern their whereabouts. Now, however, his view was expanded and he could see the distinctive patterns of the border desserts. After a few seconds, Jareth was certain he knew the location of Braeden's lair. "Amblyn! Satu! Clar!" he called hurriedly. "Alert your troop leaders. Every available unit, save a small contingent to protect the Goblin City, is to head for the Red Plain on the borderlands, by the Southeast portal to the human realm." "Then you have located Braeden there?" asked Clar. "You will find the traitor there, and the girl." said Jareth, anger flashing in his eyes. "By threatening the Goblin King, Braeden has lost any rights he may have gained by heeding the terms of his banishment. You will capture him and bring him here under guard." Jareth finished. "Satu! Clar!" Jareth's tone let the two men know they were dismissed and they hurried off to obey his orders. "Amblyn." Jareth ventured as he watched them go, "I leave it to you to guide the troops. I wish to travel my own way and remove Sarah from the castle before Braeden learns of the approaching troops." "I will not fail you, sire." Amblyn said soberly, and with that, he was gone. Just as Jareth was about to leave himself, he remembered Toby. "Haggle!" he shouted. In a few moments the little dwarf stood before him. "I leave him," he commanded, indicating Toby, "in your care." As Hoggle sputtered in protest, Jareth disappeared from view, his only thought of reaching Sarah. ************************************************************************ As Jareth's troops raced toward Caydliell, Braeden watched them in the form of a red and brown hawk. So Jareth has chosen not to take his threats seriously and take matters into his own hands. Braeden has rather hoped that the dark magic of the borderlands would keep Jareth from finding him. But now that he obviously had, he would try to enjoy a confrontation with his brother. With a swift turn of his wings, Braeden raced back to Caydliell. To Sarah, asleep by his own magic. He had a feeling that Jareth would not trust anyone but himself to rescue this mortal girl who so bewitched him. He smiled, as much as he could in his hawk form, at the certain victory over Jareth that was sure to come. 


End file.
